This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive) that we have put our hope in the living God who is the Savior of all, and especially of those who believe.
1 Timothy 3:9-10

Sunday, November 30, 2014

A reflection from my message this morning at North Raleigh church of hte Nazarene. Here is the manuscript I preached from:

“The
Pause for Hope - Mary”

Luke 1:26-38

INTRO: When you look at the next few weeks leading up to Christmas,
what do you see? Do you see stress and busyness, a list that needs to be
checked off, parties that need to be attended, presents that need to be bought?
Are you getting exhausted just thinking about December? If so, you need to
press “pause.” We need to pause and really experience what
Christmas is all about. And it is about preparing our hearts to welcome Jesus.
How do you need to prepare your heart for Christmas? Today we look at the pause for hope
in the life of Mary. Mary’s hope is our hope:

In the
sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee to a
virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The
virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went
to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Mary
was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might
be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor
with God. You will be with child and
give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son
of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will

never
end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the
angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come
upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one
to be born will be called the Son of God.
Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age,
and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is
impossible with God.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have
said.” Then the angel left her.
Luke 1:26-38

Christmas Sequence of
Events:

·Angel appears to Zechariah

·Angel appears to Mary

·Mary travels to home of Elizabeth

·John the Baptist is born

·Joseph plans to divorce Mary

·Angel appeared to Joseph

·Joseph married Mary

·Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem: Jesus is born

·Angels appeared to Shepherds

·Simeon and Anna in the Temple

·Magi visit

The Elements of Hope

1. Hope is rooted in
promise: BELIEVE

Mary’s promises of hope:
Luke 1:31-38 –
the visit from the angel...

• You will be with child; you will give birth to
a son (31)

• Call his name Jesus (31)

• He will be great, Son of the Most High (32)

• The Lord will give him the throne of David (32)

• His kingdom will never end (33)

• Holy Spirit will overshadow you; child will be
Son of God (35)

• Elizabeth is six months pregnant (36)

“I am the
Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.”
Luke
1:38

2. Hope is strengthened
by testimony: WATCH

Elizabeth: In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you
among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me? … Blessed is she who has believed
that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!” Luke 1:42-45

Shepherds: “Today in the town of David a
Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord...”
Luke
2:11

Simeon and Anna: “For my eyes have seen your
salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for
revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” Luke 2:30-32

Magi: “Where is the one who has been born king of the
Jews? We saw his star in the east and
have come to worship him.” Matthew 2:1

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that
we are God’s children.

Romans 8:16

3. Hope is tested by
adversity: ENDURE

Divorce - Because Joseph her husband was
a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in
mind to divorce her quietly. Matthew 1:19

Threat - …an angel of the Lord appeared
to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and
escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the
child to kill him.” Matthew 2:13

Death - “And a sword will pierce your
own soul too.” Luke 2:35

4. Hope is realized
in time: WAIT

Mary’s
experiences:

Temple incident (Luke 2:41-52);

Cana Wedding (John
2:1-11);

Request for meeting (Luke 8:19-21);

Crucifixion (John
19:25-27);

Upper Room (Acts
1:14).

These were all commended for their faith, yet
none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better
for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. Hebrews 11:39-40

For in this
hope we were saved. But hope
that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we
hope for what we do not yet have, we
wait for it patiently. Romans 8:24

For the grace of God that brings salvation has
appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly
passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present
age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the
glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ… Titus 2:11-13

Saturday, November 29, 2014

As we prepare for worship at North Raleigh Church of the Nazarene on the first Sunday of Advent 2014 - it is important to realize that the most wonderful time of the year is upon us.

I am very psyched to begin this new teaching series for the remainder of the calendar year.

Invite your friends to join you as we discover the need to pause and embrace the message of Christmas this year.

Here is the planned order of worship for tomorrow:

When the countdown comes to a close we plan to extend a warm welcome to everyone present and invite them to stand in worship to our Great God as we sing a familiar song of the season:

As this song concludes we will be seated for the lighting of the first candle of Advent. The candle of HOPE. Then we stand again to sing:

We now go before the Lord in prayer as an act of faith and trust. We are excited about the opportunities to gather for fellowship and service during this month. We hear the announcements to remind us that each of us play a vital role in the life and vitality of our ministry. Now we bring our offerings to the LORD!

Now the preaching of God's Word in this new teaching series for the remainder of this calendar year.

Today’s Message:

“The Pause for Hope - Mary”

Luke
1:26-38

When
you look at the next few weeks leading up to Christmas, what do you see? Do you
see stress and busyness, a list that needs to be checked off, parties that need
to be attended, presents that need to be bought? Are you getting exhausted just
thinking about December?

If so, you need to press “pause.” We need to pause and
really experience what Christmas is all about. And it is about preparing our
hearts to welcome Jesus. How do you need to prepare your heart for Christmas?

Tomorrow, we look at the pause for hope in the life of Mary. Mary’s
hope is our hope: A hope rooted in promise we believe. A hope strengthened by
testimony from others that we watch for. A hope that is sweetened by the
adversity that we endure. And a hope still to be realized, for which we wait.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

On this Thanksgiving day - my question for you is: Is your heart filled with thanksgiving to One who created you and provides all you need? Do you have an attitude of gratitude? Consider this on this day of thanks...

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

In August, Michael Brown, an unarmed, black 18-year-old,
was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a white policeman, in Ferguson, Missouri.
Tonight, we learned that the grand jury decided not to indict Wilson on any
charges related to the event.

In the months since the shooting, the world has watched
closely to see how America faces its racial issues. We may wish we lived in a
post-white/post-black world, but recent events affirm that we do not.

While we may never know all the details of what went down
in Ferguson, we do know that black Christians and white Christians interpret
these types of situations very differently. According to a recent
CNN poll, “Fifty-four percent of nonwhites––including blacks, Latinos
and Asians––say Wilson should be charged with murder, while just 23 percent of
whites agree.”

So inside the church and outside the church, it appears
that black people (and other minorities) and white people see events like the
tragedy in Ferguson from totally different perspectives.

As a pastor of an intentionally multiethnic, multiclass
church, I believe Jesus’ church can bring healing to the deep wounds in our
country by being a testimony of how the cross and blood of Jesus can bring
about reconciliation and justice.

What if black and white Christians, as well as other
minorities, were members of multiethnic churches instead of segregated ones?
Nearly 90 percent of churches in America are homogenous, meaning one ethnic
group makes up more than 80 percent of the church. Sometimes geographic
demographics cause this, but often it is a choice we make to remain segregated
as Christians.

If we worshiped side-by-side in the body of Christ, could
we address racism, oppression, and injustice together? We could move
towards being one (John 17:21, 23).

If we worshiped side-by-side in the body of
Christ, could we address racism, oppression, and injustice together?

In the first century, the churches the apostle Paul planted
had their own version of ethnic strife. In Christ, former enemies became
co-worshipers in the same multiethnic local churches.

What if black and white Christians shared life with each
other in a local church community and heard each other’s stories and
walked in each other’s shoes?

“For Christ Himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews
and Gentiles into one people when, in His own body on the cross, he broke down
the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system
of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews
and Gentiles by creating in Himself one new people from the two groups.
Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of His
death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death” (Eph.
2:14–16, NLT).

This reconciliation is not just for first-century Jews and
Gentiles. It is for all humanity. The reason the church is segregated is that
we don’t believe deeply enough in the power of the cross. It seems to me that
Christians seem to not really believe that the cross of Christ has anything to
do with racism and injustice.

But the gospel-reality is that “Christ reconciled both
groups to God by means of His death on the cross, and our hostility toward each
other was put to death” (Eph. 2:16, NLT)

Put. To. Death.

Be an Ambassador

Do you wake in the morning with a sense of urgency every
day? I hope you do. As the firestorm in Ferguson reveals, the stakes are high.
Listen to Romans 5:10–11, ESV,

“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by
the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved
by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

Outside of association and allegiance to Jesus, humanity is
an enemy of God. This is why ambassadors of Jesus wake knowing deeply that our
time, talents, and treasure are to be leveraged so that God’s enemies can be
reconciled to him through Jesus. Reconciliation means that through Jesus,
enemies of God become friends of God. It also means that in Christ we are
unified into one body, a new man (Eph. 2:15).

When you signed up to follow Jesus, he gave you the
ministry of reconciliation. Your life is a bridge over which people walk from
death to life.

“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to
himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was
reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them,
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors
for Christ, God making his appeal through us” (2 Cor. 5:18–21, ESV).

God has entrusted you and me, his church, with the message
of reconciliation. Are you giving that message away? God pleads with
people to become his friends through our lives.

Are we only sharing that message with people who look like
us or have the same socioeconomic status we do?

Are we only sharing that message with people
who look like us or have the same socioeconomic status we do?

There is a hurting world that needs to know Jesus became
what God hates most––sin––so that they could become what he loves most––his
children. When we sit in segregated churches we loudly proclaim that we love
some of his children more than we love others.

For all eternity, followers of Jesus will enjoy Jesus and
each other. But we will not share the message of reconciliation. There will be
no need to. But there is a need today! That’s why Jesus left us here as his
ambassadors to announce that the kingdom of God has come and that salvation
belongs to our God.

So are we just going to scream “Racism” and “Injustice”
from behind our segregated church walls, or are we going to start building
multiethnic communities that embody what God’s desire is for the world to be

I’m thankful for the courageous local churches in Ferguson
who are calling for peace and reconciliation.

Church, this is a pivotal time in history. Will we rise to
the occasion?

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ…

—Galatians 6:14

When a person is newly born again, he seems inconsistent
due to his unrelated emotions and the state of the external things or
circumstances in his life. The apostle Paul had a strong and steady underlying
consistency in his life. Consequently, he could let his external life change
without internal distress because he was rooted and grounded in God.

Most of us
are not consistent spiritually because we are more concerned about being
consistent externally. In the external expression of things, Paul lived in the
basement, while his critics lived on the upper level. And these two levels do
not begin to touch each other. But Paul’s consistency was down deep in the
fundamentals. The great basis of his consistency was the agony of God in the
redemption of the world, namely, the Cross of Christ.

State your beliefs to yourself again. Get back to the
foundation of the Cross of Christ, doing away with any belief not based on it.
In secular history the Cross is an infinitesimally small thing, but from the
biblical perspective it is of more importance than all the empires of the
world.

If we get away from dwelling on the tragedy of God on the Cross in our
preaching, our preaching produces nothing. It will not transmit the energy of
God to man; it may be interesting, but it will have no power.

However, when we
preach the Cross, the energy of God is released. “…it pleased God through the
foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe…we preach Christ
crucified…” (1 Corinthians 1:21, 23).

Monday, November 24, 2014

Every Fall, my sister, cousins and a cousin's
sister-in-law have a weekend shopping excursion in our home city. We stay in a
hotel, treat ourselves, shop for your children and go out for lunches and
dinners. It is a great time to reconnect.

I have a sister "Wendy," whom we do not invite.
She is offended to the point of tears when she finds we have not invited her.
My two sisters and I are very close in age, but Wendy hasn't been as close to this
set of cousins as my sister and I have been through the years.

We are all married stay-at-home moms. Wendy is a
divorced, working mom with one young child.

There are several reasons we do not include her. We know
she doesn't have very much money for such an outing. She also does not have
many of the same interests as we do. We're all very active churchgoers, while
she only sporadically attends services. Plain and simple, she does not really
fit in with us anymore.

She takes it very personally, and last year even came
over to my home unannounced crying about it, which upset my children and caused
my husband to threaten to call the police if she did not leave.

Now she barely speaks to me and has told our relatives
that I am a horrible person (even though I've helped her).

How can we get her to understand that she should perhaps
find another set of friends whose lives and interests align more closely with
hers?

-SAD SISTER

Dear Sad:

First, let's establish that I agree with your sister: You
are a horrible person.

Obviously, you can do whatever you want and associate
with—or exclude—whomever you want, but you don't get to do this and also blame
the person you are excluding for not "fitting in."

The only way your sister would ever fit in would be fore
you to make room for her. You are unwilling to do that, and that is your
choice.

But her being upset is completely justified, and you'll
just have to live with that. Perhaps this is something you could ponder from
your church pew, because despite your regular attendance, you don't seem to
have learned much.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Here is the manuscript from my message today at NRN - an interactive message of thanksgiving:

FOUR WAYS TO EXPRESS THANKS TO GOD

On Thursday of this week we are going to celebrate a National Holiday
called Thanksgiving. The irony of that
is - that very little thanks are given on that day. In fact, that day is usually very busy with
all the preparation - cooking - watching football - resting after the big meal
- entertaining - and reading the sales flyers for the next day! Many other activities - yet very little
thanks is given - except for the words of thanks when you sit down for the big
meal. Today, I want to show you how to
make Thanksgiving more meaningful. The
Bible says that there are 4 ways to express thanks to God: We are going to talk about them today - we
are going to do them today - and I hope you will do these 4 things on Thursday
of this week.

“Shout with joy to the
Lord. Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy. Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his ... Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into
his courts with praise. Give thanks to
him and bless his name ... For the Lord
is good. His unfailing love continues forever... Psalm 100

Nothing makes you more aware of God’s presence than singing to
Him! When you sing praise to God you
sense His presence. I know what some of
you are thinking - I can’t sing- The
good news is : you don’t have too - the Bible says “Make a joyful noise” You can do that - even pigs can do that.

Do you realize that Christianity is a “singing” faith? There are more songs about Jesus Christ than
any other subject - even love. You need
to learn to sing your praise and thanks to God.
You need the emotional expression of singing to God. You need not only impressions from the
worship service - but you also need “expressions” of your faith in God. This is a core value of our church that we
express our faith about God in the form of “celebrative worship”.

Friend - when I don’t feel like singing - is the time I need to sing -
Through singing to God your heart is warmed and encouraged. If you are feeling a little down or hassled
this morning - I encourage you to sing with gusto. Let’s stand together and sing our praise to
the Lord:

2. BY PRAYING TO HIM

“Give thanks to the Lord
and pray to him.” Psalm 105:1

“Don’t worry about
anything; instead pray about everything.
Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s
peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as
you live in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:6-7

This verse tells us to pray with thanksgiving. Thank God for all He has done! You parents would not like it if your
children constantly made request of you (give me/ give me/ give me) and never said thank you. God is the same way - He wants us to ask
(over 20 times in the NT the scriptures say ASK) BUT we are also to give
thanks in our prayers! Ask with
thanksgiving. Make a list of what you
are thankful for and express it to God.
What are you thankful for today?
When we offer our prayers to thanks to the Lord - the Bible tells us
that God inhabits the praise of His people.

I realize that life runs of 2 tracks.
There are good things and bad things going on in your life at the same
time. Today, I want to pray for those of
you who are going through a tough time
- difficulties -
(out of work - separated from a love one - grieving the loss of a loved
one - need a miracle in your life -
financial difficulties - health crisis - hurts.

* Prayer: “Father, as a church family we pray for these who are
standing, who have special needs in their lives. We do not fully know what the need or the
burden is - but You do. And you knew
their need even before they made the request.
We thank you that you are so keenly aware of our needs. I pray that these individuals will sense the
love and care of their church family around them. You know our hurts; you know our struggles
and our sins. You know our heartaches,
our grief and our physical pain. May
those who are hurting this morning experience relief. For those who are in conflict with loved
ones, may they sense reconciliation. For
those who are lonely, may they know your love for them and sense your presence
with them. For those who can’t break a
habit - may they experience release. For
those who are depressed - may they experience your peace. For those who need direction and don’t know
what to do please guide their life and show them the way. For anyone who does not know Jesus Christ as
Savior, may they experience your love and find salvation and peace in their
life. We make these requests with a
thankful heart and in great gratitude.
We thank you in advance for the answers that are already on the way -
even as we are praying. We ask this in
Jesus name – AMEN

“Celebrate the Harvest
Festival, to honor the Lord your God by bringing him a freewill offering in
proportion to the blessing He has given you.
Be joyful in the Lord’s presence...” Deut.
16:10-11

About 350 years ago a group of individuals known as the Pilgrims
decided to set aside a day - in the fall - and enjoy a time of food and
fellowship and give thanks to the Lord.
We remember that as Thanksgiving - and on Thursday we celebrate that as
a national holiday. BUT - about 3,000 years before that - God told His people -
the true believers of God - to set aside a day in the fall - Called the Feast
of Weeks - or - the Harvest Festival and they would bring an offering unto the
Lord - express their thanks to God -
and enjoy a banquet or a meal together.

Today - we are doing what God called his believers to do: we are
joining together this morning in singing our thanks and praise to the Lord -
going to Him in faith and prayer - and bringing an offering to Him. Last week, I shared we need to bring the
tithe up to date. Today is a day to
bring a thank offering to the Lord.

When they gave, they did not give out of a reluctant heart. They did not give under pressure or begging -
They gave from hearts of gratitude. When
you give with a heart of thanksgiving and gratitude it is worship pleasing to
the Lord.

“Now, our God, we
thank you ... These things did not really come from me and my people. Everything comes from you; we have only given
you back what you gave us ... Lord, we have gathered all this to build your
Temple. But everything has come from you
and everything belongs to you. You test
people’s hearts and you are happy when people do what is right. I
am happy to give all these things, and I gave with an honest heart. And your people gathered here are happy to
give to you too, and we rejoice to see their giving.” 1
Chronicles 29:13-16 (NCV)

The giving of our Offerings to the Lord...

4. BY SHARING MY TESTIMONY
ABOUT HIM

“Thank the Lord! Praise his name! Tell the world about his wondrous love
and how mighty he is!” Isa.
12:4

“Be very careful to never
forget what you've seen God doing for you.
May his miracles have a deep and permanent effect upon your lives! Tell your children and your grandchildren
about the glorious miracles he did.” Deut. 4:9 (LB)

Let us now tell others of the faithfulness of our great God... Testimony time.

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Tomorrow at North Raleigh Church of the Nazarene is going to be an awesome day of worship. The sermon tomorrow will be an interactive message. I encourage you to be right on time at 10:45am to view the introduction clip of my message and I begin preaching before the worship team leads us in a song. this is to help us understand the reason why we sing and express our worship to God on Sunday mornings. I look forward to seeing you.

Here is the order of worship we have planned:

A countdown clip focusing on thanksgiving....followed by a warm welcome and a roll in clip for my message - and the preaching begins. At the close of the first point of a four point message we stand and sing to the Lord:

Now we hear the Word of the Lord as I present the second point of my message following by a time of prayer:

“Don’t worry about
anything; instead pray about everything.
Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s
peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as
you live in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:6-7

The third point of my message:As we present our offering to the Lord we do so as instructed in the Word:

“Give an offering to show thanks
to God.

Give him what you promised.”
Psalm 50:14

The worship team will lead us in a song of thanksgiving:

As the last point of my message provides a time to share your testimonies of the faithfulness and compassion of the Lord.

“Be very careful to never
forget what you've seen God doing for you.
May his miracles have a deep and permanent effect upon your lives! Tell your children and your grandchildren
about the glorious miracles he did.” Deut. 4:9 (LB)

Let's share together the stories of His Faithfulness!

Be sure and sign up to help with DECK THE HALLS ! This Sunday beginning at 3:30!

Friday, November 21, 2014

A couple had two little boys, ages 8 and 10, who were
excessively mischievous. The two were always getting into trouble and their
parents could be assured that if any mischief occurred in their town their two
young sons were in some way involved.

The parents were at their wits end as to what to do about
their sons' behavior. The mother had heard that a clergyman in town had been
successful in disciplining children in the past, so she asked her husband if he
thought they should send the boys to speak with the clergyman.

The husband said, 'We might as well. We need to do
something before I really lose my temper!' The clergyman agreed to speak with
the boys, but asked to see them individually. The 8 year old went to meet with
him first.

The clergyman sat the boy down and asked him sternly,' Where is
God?'

The boy made no response, so the clergyman repeated the
question in an even sterner tone, 'Where is God?' Again the boy made no attempt
to answer. So the clergyman raised his voice even more and shook his finger in
the boy's face, 'WHERE IS GOD?'

At that the boy bolted from the room and ran directly
home, slamming himself in the closet. His older brother followed him into the
closet and asked what had happened.

The younger brother replied, 'We are in BIG
trouble this time. God is missing and they think we did it.'

Thursday, November 20, 2014

One week from today is Thanksgiving Day. As we prepare for a day of thanks with family and friends you will be given a time to share a testimony of God's faithfulness during the past 12 months! It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord! Here is a short primer to prepare our hearts to be thankful....

If someone who was starving approached you
on the street and asked you to share your food, would you oblige?

In a new social experiment conducted by OCK
TV, two men — ET and Dennis — set out to see if strangers in NYC will do just
that. And guess what? They fail at all three attempts.

Not one person will
budge.

Moments later, ET and another person on the
team purchase an entire pizza pie and give it to a homeless man, who — by the
way — looks happier than any of the other individuals you meet before him.

Shortly after that, Dennis disguises
himself as a homeless person and sits next to the man with the pizza. He tells
him he’s hungry and asks if he has an extra slice. Without hesitation, the
homeless man happily shares his meal.

And what happens next brought tears to my eyes.

Watch the video below.

It may change the way you think — and the way
you treat other people. At the end of the day, we’re all people — homeless or
not.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

To those who have had no agony Jesus says, “I have nothing
for you; stand on your own feet, square your own shoulders. I have come for the
man who knows he has a bigger handful than he can cope with, who knows there
are forces he cannot touch; I will do everything for him if he will let Me.
Only let a man grant he needs it, and I will do it for him.” From: The Shadow of an Agony

The
Unrivaled Power of Prayer

We do not know what we should pray for as we
ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which
cannot be uttered.

We realize that we are energized by the Holy Spirit for
prayer; and we know what it is to pray in accordance with the Spirit;
but we don’t often realize that the Holy Spirit Himself prays prayers in us
which we cannot utter ourselves. When we are born again of God and are indwelt
by the Spirit of God, He expresses for us the unutterable.

“He,” the Holy Spirit in you, “makes intercession for the
saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:27).
And God searches your heart, not to know what your conscious prayers are,
but to find out what the prayer of the Holy Spirit is.

The Spirit of God uses the nature of the believer as a
temple in which to offer His prayers of intercession. “…your body is the
temple of the Holy Spirit…” (1
Corinthians 6:19). When Jesus Christ cleansed the temple, “…He would not
allow anyone to carry wares through the temple” (Mark 11:16).

The Spirit of God will not allow you to use your body for your own convenience.
Jesus ruthlessly cast out everyone who bought and sold in the temple, and said,
“My house shall be called a house of prayer…. But you have made it a ‘den of
thieves’ ” (Mark
11:17).

Have we come to realize that our “body is the temple of the
Holy Spirit”?

If so, we must be
careful to keep it undefiled for Him. We have to remember that our conscious
life, even though only a small part of our total person, is to be regarded by
us as a “temple of the Holy Spirit.”

He will be responsible for the unconscious
part which we don’t know, but we must pay careful attention to and guard the
conscious part for which we are responsible.

Rick and Sharron Hudgens

About Me

I am privileged to be a servant of the Lord God Almighty on High. God has blessed me with a beautiful wife, Sharron, two twin daughters, Danielle and Stephanie, a great son-in-law, Josh (married to Stephanie), and my first granddaughter, Alyse Nicole. In October 2009 Danielle married Jessie Bolder and we welcome Jessie and our new grand daughter Jayden into our family. On April 16, 2010 Danielle gave birth to Jordan Richard Bolder - our first grand son. A few weeks later on May 7th Stephanie gave birth to Breeley May. The latest update is the our daughter Stephanie gave birth to Cammie Lynley on July 12, 2013. Sharron and I are blessed people.